A whisky primer with tasting tips, reviews and recipes by Shane Helmick.

W.L. Weller Special Reserve, Old Weller Antique 107, and W.L. Weller 12 year

It’s not really Bourbon Buffalo Trace season anymore, but that’s what we’re talking about today because that’s how we roll here at How to Drink Whisky Enterprises. We are current as fuck and super diligent about blogging. We want you to be current as fuck with us because, dammit, you deserve it. But we respect that you’re a casual readership, too. You’re attention span is small. So small. Such a small, tiny attention span it is, but so valuable! So pay attention! This is important!!!

Do you or anyone you know do guerrilla landscaping? Like… if I paid you to spite-mow a giant dong on my neighbor’s lawn, would you do it? My neighbor’s lawn desperately needs a giant dong mowed into it. How much do you think that would cost?

Special Reserve – (45%)

Nose:Farmy with a minerally graphite. Sweet, wheat chaff and hot, buttered waffles. Not very complicated and without serious flaws.

Palate:Easy-going. Tempered butterscotch candies and diluted wood. Hint of vanilla. It’s almost like it comes out of the bottle with a splash of water already added. Easy palate. Easy finish. Easy easy easy.

This one is a no-brainer. For $20-30? Buy! Buy! Buy! Plus, like the Antique 107, people often buy single casks of this one for their store, club, or friends. These store picks can range from pedestrian to amazing, making for an affordable and collectible whisky experience.. not that we would ever recommend collecting bottles over drinking them.

Old Weller Antique 107 – (53.5%)

Nose:It starts minerally like the Special Reserve, but takes a quick turn and becomes spicy and sour, like a hit of undiluted lemon juice or a backyard pile of wet sawdust that’s just starting to ferment. Good but definitely more aggressive woodiness.

Palate:A bit of a kick. Short but bold finish with a slightly numbing tongue. Stripped down cinnamon and honey. Citrus rind.

This one could use an ice cube or two. No judgement here. Personally, I much prefer the Special Reserve. The sour note on the Antique kind of puts me off. It seems to me like they trade a bit of favorable flavor for a slightly sexier proof. Still, as with the Special Reserve, $20-30 is not a bad deal, and store picks can be exceptional.

12 Year – (45%)

Nose:Like a mix of the Special Reserve and 107, all the sour and vanilla, but balanced with a rich layer of vanilla and fruit, making the sour bearable and the vanilla richer. Raspberry sorbet. Those glowy red cocktail cherries. Cultured butter on granite.

Palate:Not nearly as harsh as the 107 and much sweeter, creamier vanilla than the Special Reserve. Birthday cake with chocolate frosting. Cinnamon. Citrus. Buttery. Not overwhelming but still a very seductive drinker.

I love this one. It’s no wonder it’s so hard to find. At roughly the same “honest” retail as the other two, this one takes the prize for me. That’s not to say I haven’t found store picks of the Special Reserve and Antique 107 that were as good or better than the average 12 year bottling.

Guerrilla landscapers interested in the position, please leave a link to your CV in the comments below. Cheers!

One thought on “W.L. Weller Special Reserve, Old Weller Antique 107, and W.L. Weller 12 year”

I’ve been enjoying Antique 107* for over 40 years. Good reason that it’s the “Official” Bourbon of the Kentucky Derby, held in Louisville, Bourbon County, Ky. While I admit to never having tasted “Pappy”, made at the same distillery, slightly different recipe, yet the 107 uncut, for “sipping” with a “branch” back, stretching a shot over an hour or so, is the “peak” relish of this fine product.
My first employment was at nine years of age, hauling, cutting and splitting wood for a multi-generational “Corn Whisky” Still operation deep in the Cherokee National Forest of Eastern Tennessee Appalachia. I was once mentored by a Distiller who had worked 10 years at the Distillery [Now owned by “Buffalo Trace”*]. Hard to obtain in Hawaii; $40.00 a bottle, yet well worth it. A cut well above the rest- savor it cautiously.